| Long ago, when the sun was very close to Earth, and human beings and animals lived as brothers, there lived a man known as the Great Montezuma.
Great Mystery Power had made Montezuma just as he had made the rest of the people and things that inhabited this world. He dug some clay, formed this clay into different shapes, and carried these shapes back to the heavens. Then, from far above, Great Mystery Power dropped the shapes into the hole he dug, and from this hole came Montezuma. Behind him came every Indian tribe on Earth, and every animal and bird and insect. In those times when the Earth was never cold, and corn and wheat grew all year round, and when everyone was happy, Montezuma took on the role of the leader of all the people. He was a good leader, but he could not stop the people from becoming greedy, and he could not stop them from forgetting to give thanks to the Great Mystery Power for all the gifts Earth and sky and sea offered them. One day Coyote traveled from his home in the mountains to speak to Montezuma, for these two were great friends. "A flood is coming to destroy the Earth," Coyote confided to his friend. "We both must build canoes so that we will not drown." Montezuma trusted Coyote, who was wily but also wise. And so he followed his friend's advice and built a great canoe. This he kept upon the highest mountain peak. Coyote, too, built a vessel. When the great flood swept across the land, Coyote and Montezuma boarded their sea-going vessels, and they alone, of all the creatures, floated upon the rising water. Everyone and everything else drowned. In his canoe, Montezuma headed toward the tallest mountain peak, and there he found Coyote awaiting him. "Travel east and west and south," Montezuma said to Coyote. "Your four legs can take you farther and faster than my two can. You must see if you can find more land." And so Coyote traveled seeking dry land, but he returned with sad news. "Everywhere - south and west and east - there is only water." "Travel north and see what you can see," Montezuma told Coyote. And so Coyote set off again. At long last he returned with good news. There was dry land to the north. All this time the Great Mystery Power watched over them. When Montezuma announced that he would lead the formation of a new land in the north, the Great Mystery Power went to work. Once again he peopled the Earth, and for his trouble, Montezuma was granted the power to look after this creation. Montezuma was glad to lead. First he divided the people into nations, and to each nation he gave laws so they could govern themselves. He also taught them how to plant and to build homes, how to hunt and how to reap harvests, how to make their clothing, how to sing and how to dance. For a long time he was a good leader. Soon the world was a happy place again, and Coyote felt proud of his friend and master. Many generations came and went, and the Aztec people thrived and flourished. Coyote's descendants and the descendants of Montezuma remained friends until another great ruler, also named Montezuma, became leader of the Aztecs. The great city of Tenochtitlan arose and prospered. But this came at a great price. The Aztecs conquered their neighbors, enslaved them, and exacted huge tributes. The wrath of the gods was placated by human sacrifice. Coyote noted these things, and he noted, too, that Montezuma's power was making him too proud. He began to think that he was the most powerful being in the world, that he needed no one's help and no one's guidance, and he forgot about the many gifts he had received from the Great Mystery Power. "Please," Coyote begged his friend, "remember to be humble. There is a power greater than you. You must obey the Great Mystery's laws, and you must give thanks for all his gifts." But this time Montezuma shunned his friend's advice. "I don't need you, Coyote," he said. "Your warnings bore me. I am the most powerful being." Broken-hearted, Coyote left his friend and traveled deep into the mountains. From his lonely home he watched as Montezuma commanded the people to build him a house that would rise into the heavens. The Great Mystery Power watched too, and as Montezuma's greed and pride grew, the world changed. The Great Mystery Power tried to warn Montezuma of all the wrongdoing he saw on Earth. He pushed the sun higher into the sky, farther from Earth, and snow and ice and hail began to fall. But the people didn't change their ways. As Montezuma's house of turquoise and gold grew taller, the people grew more distant from each other and from their creator. When this happened, the Great Mystery Power knew he must destroy those who had turned against him. And so he sent a curse over the land, and new people from lands far away invaded. They carried sticks that sent fire into the land, destroying the people, and the animals and everything that had once been so beautiful and peaceful in this world. Before long these invaders had spread over the whole country, and Montezuma was killed, and his power vanished. In the mountains, Coyote and all his people watched and wept and howled as the world changed forever. |
| After the Flood |
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